Doctor Who: Just You Watch Him Run
by Golden Suze
Summary: Following losing Clara, The Doctor's feeling lost and sad but he decides to break one little rule, just to see her again. Can he keep to not interacting with the earlier version of his new incarnation and Clara. Plus will he follow Clara's advice she gave him before she died in his arms.
1. Chapter 1

**Seeing as I love reading Doctor Who fanfics, I decided to have a second go at writing one myself. Hope it's easy to follow for readers.**

* * *

 **Doctor Who: Just You Watch Him Run  
**

 **Chapter 1**

Missy may have thought of Clara as a hybrid, when she claimed, this just so happened to be her reason of giving the young teacher to her oldest friend. However The Doctor liked to think otherwise - Missy had clearly became hugely jealous of the everlasting friendship, which had blossomed between him and Clara and knowing her, she would stop at nothing to jeopardize someone who was close to The Doctor's; future timeline.

Now sat alone in thoughtful silence. He sensed his broken hearts were slowly beginning to heal. However he literally couldn't breath, whenever he remembers she isn't right there by his side anymore, the very thought of this still brings tears to his eyes. He manages to keep his emotions in check, while he assembles . Motivation, anyplace he could uncover it, obviously needed to be his Gallifreyan revival again.

 _Never and never, my girl riding far and near_

 _In the land of the hearthstone tales, and spelled asleep,_

 _Fear or believe that the wolf in a sheep white hood_

 _Loping and bleating roughly and blithely shall leap,_

 _My dear, my dear,_

 _Out of a lair in the flocked leaves in the dew dipped year_

 _To eat your heart in the house in the rosy wood._

Nothing could ever bring her back to him - her fate had unfortunately been sealed, which he had started to accept. Not wishing to dampen his mood further or cause his next regeneration through grief, as he believed this curious face of his, had so much more to offer vulnerable humans and alien races. The Doctor wanted to make a start in seeing Clara one last time, so he kick-started his campaign to follow through on his promise.

"You told me, before you died in my arms to; _Run you clever man, find my River, my wife and spend time with her at Luna, if I know she will spur me into forgiving myself for the mistakes I've made._ Then that's what I intend to do." The painful memory of an injured Clara's life etching away, right before his eyes, had indescribably stung him to the core. However knowing fully well, she wouldn't have wanted to see him, beating himself up over her death; The Doctor decided he didn't want to live a miserable future anymore and so he set off on what felt like, an impossible mission.

He carefully pushed the lever down, once he had keyed in the co-ordinates for the first visit to his and Clara's shared timeline together. Yet, he felt he wasn't breaking his rules by doing this. These journeys he was about to undertake where bound to tug on both of his heartstrings again.

 **Xxx**

The first location; an indoor/outdoor cafe in Central London. He's chosen a perfect spot, in the far corner of the cafe and now he sits and watches his Eleventh self, confronting customers who had fallen under the control of Miss Kizlet. He remembers this moment well, as if it were yesterday - how angered his previous face had become when he discovered Clara had been uploaded to the network.

He was left to question whether Mr Bowtie in all his floppy hair and tweed jacket, had somehow recognized him, as he was making his way to leave the cafe but chose to avoid confronting him.

The current Doctor jumped up from the table he was sitting and quickly he glanced over his shoulder at the exact moment - his former self was jumpstarting a motorbike and riding it away from the building along the road below. He hadn't seen Clara yet and of course the thought of him having shown up later rather than much earlier on - left him to wonder whether, he had incorrectly used the wrong co-ordinates or whether her recent death was already beginning to create ripple effects in her timeline.

"Something feels wrong. I'm never wrong with timed co-ordinates. I want to help save her here but I can't very well interact with Mr Bowtie, without risking revealing who I am. Otherwise my own future will pan out differently." He panics and throws down the newspaper he had been reading and hiding his face behind. He soon hurries back to where the Tardis is parked, several streets away.

Once he re-enters the Tardis and inspects the set co-ordinates at the controls. A possible realization dawns on him. "Clara must have seen me, earlier in her timeline but where and when?" He assumes this might be why he hadn't arrived at the correct moment, his Eleventh self had knocked at Clara's house. He bows his head with great sadness but still he remains determined to get to the bottom of the mystery behind this. He reflects on the conversation he shared with Clara in the Viking village where they had met Ashildr, Chuckles, Noggin the Nog, Lofty and all the other loyal village folk.

 _"I'm so sick of losing." How that thought continued to haunt him everywhere he went.  
_

 _ **"** You didn't lose. You saved the town." She done her best to reassure him, he hadn't lost the battle against The Mire.  
_

 _ **"** I don't mean the war. I'll lose any war you like. I'm sick of losing people. Look at you, with your eyes, and your never-giving-up, and your anger, and your… kindness. One day… the memory of that will hurt so much that I won't be able to breathe, and I'll do what I always do. I'll get in my box, and I'll run and I'll run in case all the pain ever catches up… and every place I go, it will be there." So many had lost their lives under the Doctor's watch and he really did hate this fact. So many deaths laid on his conscience. Every single one of them were bound to feel just as painful as the one before.  
_

He suddenly had a light-bulb moment after spending some considerable time with his eyes closed, temporarily shut from the world. His eyes were brimming with newfound hope. "Oh Clara Oswald, my Clara. Just you watch me run." He manages a faint smile, as he prepares to travel to next point in Clara's timeline.

The Tardis soon dematerializes from the street view, which it is surrounded within.

 **xxxx**

1893 Victorian London; his friends Madam Vastra, Commander Strax and Jenny Flint are sitting around a table. He can't recall this particular memory, seeing how he knows he wasn't present during it. He feels absolutely disappointed with himself yet again, for building his hope, only for them to come crashing down around him. The Doctor's about to leave, as he watches from outside the window. Clara appears as if by magic and he turns round, runs to the window, to see if it really was her and then another surprise happened in the form of River appearing at the table just after Clara. He was thrown by what must have taken place, in that very room - well, for starters his mind isn't quite as up to the scratch, as he presumed it was.

While he was half overcome with emotion, at seeing the two women who meant very much to him but not being able to communicate with the both of them - The Doctor remembers Clara telling him, regarding what she was told by Vastra about the prophecy of his name on Trenzalore and the planet's space co-ordinates - a place he would rather forget nowadays, as it brought back so many painful memories - especially reliving the moment of saying goodbye to River. He knew, he would see her again in an earlier part of her timeline.

The intensity of his eyes moved back and forth between the two women who were the most important people in his life.

He didn't know why he had ended up here all of a sudden but he was fully intending to find out why.

 **End of Chapter**

 **All Reviews are always welcome**


	2. Chapter 2

**Doctor Who: Just You Watch Him Run**

 **Chapter 2**

While his eyes became transfixed with those red curls belonging to his beautiful wife. _Me and my bloody rules, why can't I wriggle myself around them for once. Yeah like that could happen._

He instantly snapped out of his thoughts, as soon as The Whisper Men appeared from nowhere. He couldn't take his roving and penetrating eyes off both River and Clara, as he was quietly rooting for one of them to fight off the threat off these creepy looking creatures. Before he could see the eventual result of whatever happened here, The Doctor staggered back and started to wonder whether he had consciously became a part of this _"Conference call"_ for the same reasons as his friends.

He woke up with a thumping headache on the floor of the Tardis. How on earth ended up in this strange state, he didn't have a clue whatsoever but felt it was best to investigate what caused him to blackout in the Tardis and to place himself in the situation of observing his friends in their dream realm. No wonder he hadn't quite acknowledged whereabouts he was because of the likelihood of him getting distracted by seeing River and Clara again.

The Doctor was playing a one-sided game of cat and mouse with whatever was now going on and of course, he hated this actual truth.

When he got himself up off the floor, his left hand cradled the back of his head, sensing there might be a nasty wound - thankfully he hadn't picked up one. Still he did feel somewhat unsteady on his feet.

Perhaps the old girl was feeling annoyed with him, for nearly getting her blown up on Skaro - he never had got round to apologizing for putting her in the Hostile Dispersal System at the last minute. The Doctor's habit of looking too curiously into matters before thinking it through first, tended to get him a heap of trouble. He remembers making one mistake, which almost effectively cost him his friendship with Clara - leaving her and the schoolgirl to decide the fate of the 100-million-year-old egg and humanity, which was originally thought to be the moon.

If only there had been another solution. If only she hadn't gotten herself too involved with Danny Pink, then maybe things would have panned out far differently. Of course, he relished every lasting moment of Clara's company, wherever and whenever the two of them traveled together throughout the galaxy. Still a part of him, is questioning whether, she had tried to conceal her grief for Danny, by throwing herself into their adventures.

He soon realizes the Tardis isn't moving at all. He traces his hand across the buttons and the many controls, at the flight deck.

"You can't be too mad with me. Look I've said I'm sorry. So, come on tell, what's really going on with you?" He asks, he rubbed his chin and furrowed his eyebrow while he wandered around the desk.

"I'm a good man. I think we've already established that. Are you mad with me, for what I did to bring Ashildr back to life?" The Tardis makes a soft-thrumming noise and flashes a greenish colour, The Time Lord takes this as a _I'm softening towards giving you a yes_ answer.

"We all make mistakes, old girl. Which none of which any one of us can be proud of. I thought I was doing right by what I did. Turns out I made the wrong choice." He waved and gestured his hand around repeatedly, while he was speaking.

"I truly am sorry, so I hope you can forgive me. Well!, I can't very well lose you too, can I now?" The Doctor opened up as honestly as he could with the Tardis. "We've had the best and worst of times haven't we? I don't think I could sleep on having a worried mind. Besides sleeping is for tortoises." The Tardis started to glow brightly - swirly blue, like it regularly did and embrace her beloved friend with a comforting sensation across his fingers and shoulders.

"It's good to have the two of us, on the same page again." The Doctor sighed, once the old girl's faith was restored in him. "Right onwards and upwards lass" He declares in his immaculate Scottish voice, only to remember he should check and see what world or what time period awaited him outside the Tardis.

The Time Lord wasn't as nervous as he originally guessed he might be but still he took a deep breath and slowly walked over to the doorway. He stood in a sideways position to those double doors, he then raised his right hand up high before clicking his fingers together and watching on as the doors opened, right in front of his eyes.

He now finds himself outside cemetery gates and soon he is quickly able to spot Clara talking to a half human, half Cyberman, _Danny._ Obviously with the earlier version of him up in the Cargo in the sky and due to show up in the Tardis any minute, this latest version of him was now here - watching a conversation between his faithful friend and her recently dead boyfriend. While he was crouched on his knees, behind one of the gravestones, he heard footsteps approaching behind him. He agonized about glancing back over his shoulder at first but when he seen Missy making her entrance, he decided to look behind him. The glowing blue eyes of The Doctor's, soon stare up in amazement and respect. It's the Cyberman avatar of The Brigadier, who he recalls saving Kate and firing an electric bolt at Missy, in the nick of time. _  
_

"Brigadier. It's me, that me is not the actual me...Oh it's probably going to muddle your Cyberman functioned mind up, if I try to explain it to you. Listen, you have to stop him from making a terrible mistake and fire a shot at her. You know as well as I know, he...I'm a good man and he isn't capable of killing someone." He didn't know why he was begging his old friend for help because Alistair Gordon Lethbridge -Stewart would be more happy to follow one of his good friend's orders no matter what.

The Cyberman bowed his head for a moment before tilting it's head up and reexamining the unfolding situation. The Brigadier's emotions were beginning to emerge and within a matter of seconds, he had fired a shot an electric shot in Missy's direction - whose presence was finally acknowledged.

The newer Doctor succeeded in managing to go undetected again, as he was now hiding behind the wall of the nearby church but he was still in touching distance of Clara, as she attended to Kate, who was lying in a daze on the grass. She looked wonderful and a tower of strength, even after she had saw Danny rising from the ground with the other Cybermen and flying into the clouds.

 _"Kate. She's breathing! She's alive! She can't be here."_

 _"She is."_

 _"She fell out of a plane. The Cyberman must have caught her."_

 _"Doctor, she's talking about her dad."_

 _"Of course. The Earth's darkest hour and mine. Where else would you be?"_

 _The earlier him salutes the spirit of Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart. Who acknowledges with a bow of its head then blasts off into the wide blue yonder._  
 _"Thank you."_

 _"Thank you Alistair Gordon." The Doctor of now, smiles and gives him a salute. "I know, what am I like but I thought you deserve a second salute."  
_

He quickly heads back to the Tardis in a cheerful mood. Why on earth was he suddenly smiling for? He wished River was there alongside him and giving him a slap - to slap some much-needed sense into him. The countdown was certainly ticking for him and he was spending it, hanging around and not getting to the bottom of why he was appearing in random past moments he had shared along with Clara. With the latest emotion he felt flowing through his 2,000 year old self.

He takes out his guitar and he starts to play an acoustic version of Avalon by Roxy Music. The Doctor slowly walks around the console room, whilst he plays. He closes his eyes and concentrates on the sedative sound he was making, as he played this song to himself.

Who he was kidding? A Time Lord wasn't a detached or unemotional person, who traveled alone and who could easily get over the loss of someone who they felt close to. No, he was unlike Missy or Rani or Omega, he was _The Doctor and he saved people_ what he told Clara after remembering where he got his face.

A realization suddenly hits him, like a gush of wind on an Autumn day. "Why I didn't see it. Why didn't I know this before. I need to pay a deserved visit to someone." He smiles knowingly, while he taps in a shorter than usual co-ordinate and then pulls the furthest lever down.

 **End of Chapter**

 **All Reviews are always welcome**


	3. Chapter 3

**Doctor Who: Just You Watch Him Run**

 **Chapter 3**

River Song wasn't having one of her best times at the University. Most of the male students were flirting with her/chat her up, while she was always trying to study. A familiar figure pitched up in the study room she was occupying, one dark evening, who had been careful enough to keep themselves out of view from her, for most of that evening. This person had heard her, talking to herself after one of the male students tried to kiss her. The male student hadn't heard the threat she made, of putting use her weapons skills to good use against him. She didn't think anyone had heard her, except this mystery visitor was the only person who had heard her every word "Not like you to not threaten to use your Sonic blaster on someone, who doesn't treat you with respect."

"I beg your pardon?, How long have you exactly been standing there? You know I could easily use it on you and no-one would dare to batter an eyelid or ask who you are." She was shocked, to learn someone

"Yes, you tried that once before and lets not forget, what happened there, but I know myself, you won't consider doing it again, River."

"You didn't answer my question. Who are you, what do you want and how do you even know my name?"

" How about taking a look at my eyes and you find out for yourself. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."

"Oh, don't worry, I fully intend to and then when I do manage to put a face to your voice, I'll be more than happy to have you thrown out of the University, before you can say Pears, Wears and Tears."

The person in question stepped out of the shadows and revealed themselves - it was The Doctor, he cheerfully smiles at her and leans in closer towards her. "How about taking a guess now. " He didn't want to push her too far, otherwise he would end up being rewarded with one of her famous slaps. His eyes were intoxicating, mesmerizing and capable of magnetically drawing you in.

"It can't be... Doctor?" She only had to take one close up look at him, to finally realize who this man, who was grinning annoyingly in front of her, actually was. He was her husband, who she hadn't seen for many years - she lost count of how exactly many it may have possibly been. He looked older than the last time she saw him. She picked up on a couple of pointers about this new face of his - obviously it had seen plenty of heartache and inner emotion. So she asked herself, why was he feeling so happy and relieved to see her, if his eyes were telling a completely different story instead - one of great sadness.

She ran her hand over his cheekbone, his hand grasped hold of hers, while she was doing this.

"Hi honey, I'm home." He grinned again at her. He was thriving on this pleasant open opportunity to tease her.

"Is that really best you can come up with?" She wasn't overly impressed by his greeting.

His smile faded and his expression turned into a frown.

"Says the woman, who nearly once got the both of us thrown into jail, for mocking a Judoon, during one of our trips to their sister planet and then got us banned from visiting there again."

"I couldn't help it, Sweetie. They've got funny faces and they're strong and heavy looking. I guess, I got starstruck at seeing one of them"

"I really don't know how my former self managed to deal with your occasional , at least it's one planet to avoid anyway. Never did like their cuisine meals, too salty for my liking." He was wittering far too much for her own liking.

"I've missed you so much. Tell me this, why didn't you try to visit me here, earlier at the University?"

Her affectionate words, stopped him in his tracks. He didn't need to confess what she longed to hear him tell her. Her husband removed her hand from where she had placed it across his cheekbone and brought it up to his lips before leaving a feathered kiss across those heavenly fingers of hers.

"Clara told me to find you. She didn't want me to be one of those people, who would forever mourn her or end up blaming themselves for her , she just wanted me to find my peace and rediscover my happiness and that's exactly why I'm doing, by finding you again, River. I need you. I need my wife. I need comfort. " She had no clue, as to who he had meant by this woman named Clara. However she decided not to quiz him about her, as he was on the brink of breaking down in her arms. She watched his movements closely, as he slowly walked around to her side of the desk.

"Well, it's been a while since you got emotional about something or someone close to your hearts...I don't blame you..." Before she could finish off her sentence, her husband hugged her out of the blue. Her hearts mellowed, at the sight of seeing him looking forlorn and she was more than happy to comfort him, by caressing the back of his head with her hand.

"I never embraced the hugging process before because I always thought it was a distraction, for one who feels on top of their game."

He pulled her up off her chair and hugged her even tightly. He welcomed the hugging more than he had originally expected himself to do so.

"I made many mistakes River. Terrible ones but they're over now and yet I still feel bad." He ran his nose against her bare shoulder. She shivered after feeling it but didn't allow her mind to get too distracted while she comforted her husband.

"You're a good man and you're worthy of reliving your Time Lord days again. You're not just a story anymore, my love. You're a living legend amongst the stars of Earth and throughout." She tries to reassure him, he has so much to keep him spiritually going, for as long as possible.

Once 10 minutes passed, River started to wonder why her husband had suddenly gone quiet. "Doctor? Sweetie?" A slight look of annoyance soon registered itself across her face. "I hope you haven't fallen asleep on my shoulder, like you did when you took me to the stars of Rowntreex, for our first anniversary." She pulled out of their hug, to see for herself. Thankfully he hadn't. The Doctor looked bolstered and calm after listening to her words of encouragement.

"Do you mind, if I make myself at home here? because I'm not sure me being alone right now, is the best idea."

"You didn't need to ask." She took hold of his hand and lead him out of her favourite study room.

"River, where are you taking me?" He questioningly raised his left brow.

"I'm taking you to one of the available rooms that visitors are put in for the night, or do you have a better idea?" She wasn't really going to take him to one of the visitors bedrooms for the night because the University didn't really have rooms like that. Nevertheless her hearts were already set on, where she wanted to go.

"I think I want to go back to the Tardis." He could read her mind like the pages of his 2,000 diary.

"Well, I think I'd like to join you in the Tardis." She wanted him to rescue her without delay, from more paperwork and from flirty male students.

"Well, shall we then, River." He gave her a smile of confidence before swapping their positions around, so he was standing at the front and she was standing behind him.

 **xxxx**

River was busily admiring the new impressive features and the decorations inside the TARDIS. She glanced over at him, standing quietly and looking lost in thought at the flight desk. "I think you deserve as many hugs as possible Sweetie." River sees such hurt and grief, still there in his eyes, even if he's managing to crack a joke with her.

"No-one's ever promised as many hugs before. I'm touched...no really I am." Despite feeling more sad inside than outside, The Doctor was starting to fall madly in love with her all over again.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She was left curious by the mixed look of intensity and thoughtfulness he was now expressing towards her.

What she didn't know, was that Clara's words were repeating themselves in his mind, as if they were being played on a tape recorder.

 _"You know as well as I know, you can't stay mad at yourself because of me. You need River. Work it out you daft old man. She's still somewhere in your timeline. So, you've still got your chance at finding happiness, take it while you still can, Doctor." her words etched away._

The Doctor was surprised to discover, the both of them were sharing a more intimate connection with each other this time around. It was all thanks to Clara, for pushing her friend in the right direction - trying to encourage him to re-experience where his fondness of happiness came from.

On gut instinct, he stepped into her personal space and reached for her hands and laced his fingers with hers, fittingly. "Because I've missed this. I've missed our bickering and more importantly I've missed... you, River." Although he couldn't quite declare the L word yet but still he exhibited enough confidence, in describing how he never once forgotten about her, during his many voyages in the TARDIS throughout the endurance of time and space.

River had only been able to familiarize herself with her husband's new incarnation, for what felt like five minutes and yet she found she was feeling completely drawn towards him because of the greatness of his captivating eyes.

"I'll show you to your room." He smiled with such warmness at her, before those eyes of his, nervously tried to attempt to look away from her and he started to question the pace of how rapidly the relationship between the two of them was blossoming. She happened to overhear him mumbling something to himself. Whatever it was, she wondered whether, he was perhaps giving himself a very quiet telling off.

"You know, I can hear you thinking, Sweetie and it does bother me to see you talking to yourself. You never use to do that."

He gave a soft chuckle and soon started to relax and mellow, knowing her words making him feel like this. Clara was right, River was his life and the reason for him to remember how he was still loved, even if all of their encounters were continuously in the wrong order.

He focused his softened gaze on her, giving her some much needed eye to eye contact, she was hopeful of him giving her. She could see the passion and longing soon burning within his eyes. Yet, she asked herself, why wasn't her husband making the first move, by gathering her in his arms and kissing her.

They walked side by side, with their hands still linked together. The hallway inside the TARDIS hadn't changed one bit. When their married couple eventually ended up outside, where her bedroom was. The Doctor couldn't take his eyes off her, he literally felt

"So where's your bedroom?" _Such a typical romantic novel like question to ask me, River. Clara's fault for leaving one of her books behind in the TARDIS once and my fault for picking it up and reading it._

"Here." He said after a period of fifteen minutes of silence and intimate gazes exchanged back and forth between each other. Out of the blue, he moved his hands to her face, his palms cupping her cheeks and slowly moved into kiss her. He put this down to being because of her perfume and those the most beautiful pair of eyes, he had forever been bewitched by, every time they'd shared a romantic moment like this with each other before.

Soon their lips met. River had already willingly repositioned her hand to the back of his neck, which seemed to do the great trick in urging him to kiss her longer. Each kiss they shared, grew splendidly with plenty of buoyancy and certainty. A few months ago; Clara had asked him about whether or not, he was the romantic and kissing type, he told her; he wasn't. Clearly as he beginning to find out, he was very, very wrong about this matter.

She ran her free hand through his fluffy grey hair. Oh my; she couldn't wait to get a couple of chances, to cop a feel of that magnificent hair of his again. She melted, once she felt one of his hands, sweeping under her green cardigan and across her bare shoulder. Gathering her closer, tighter in his embrace, he deepened the kiss and quickly lead her into the bedroom. Before long The Time Lord and his wife were staggering towards where the bed was situated and collapsing back onto it.

Both his hands moved to her back lightly as his lips traced across her jawline. Sometime later she was first to pull away, almost out of breath, as was he.

"Goodness Sweetie. Where did that come from? It seems as if, the older you've become, the more you've realized deep-down you need the love of your wife - much more than ever. I don't know what to say. Oh by the way you've got...Never mind." Her eyes were able to detect a smudge of cherry lipstick over his shirt collar, around his lips and cheekbone.

"I should have come back sooner. Could have introduced you to Clara. I reckon you two, will have got on famously. Comparing your hobbies and your dislikes." The Doctor regretted not coming back to search for his wife sooner.

"She really meant a lot to you, didn't she? So much so, you followed your hearts and her advice to come and find me here at Luna."

The Doctor nodded and smiled. He wished to keep his memories of Clara Oswald locked away but he was never going to forget the happiest ones he experienced with her. "She was the first person, who saw this new face of mine." He pointed his finger and circled it around his face, as if to gesture this. "And you're actually the second to, River.

He heard her giggling, which left him far from impressed. She certainly had quite an irresistible laugh on her. However when the chance came to pull her up, on a few unanswered questions - His wife; on the other hand, had her very own ideas and soon she was guaranteeing, he wouldn't be getting his own way again, in making a second move on her - by scooping her hand to the back of his neck and pulling him down towards her. Their lips caressed each other's so impeccably and expressively.

Before long their bodies instantly molded together. River feels relaxed and comforted as she presses her chest against his thin frame. The Doctor feels exceptionally laid back and smitten looks, even though those outrageous curls of hers, keep getting in his way, by tickling his cheek.

Regardless of this slight objection, River's brilliant influence on him, was still greatly making his hearts race with excitement and doing enough to strengthen his love for her. Reminding him of why she had always been the only woman for him and also because of the reason, why they weren't frustratingly destined to lead a normal life together.

 **xxxx**

The Doctor had left River blissfully sleeping alone in their bed and had quietly returned to the console room. He gets the unmistakable impression, he has now stepped into the boots of a lovesick teenager's and while this known fact doesn't fluster him one bit, he's too busy speculating over; how they were going to properly balance the latest stage of their marriage. Still, the chance of reconnecting with her, was the best decision he had ever made.

No longer was he - Mr Grumpy or a selfish and aloof individual. No he was slowly maturing, learning that love will have a bigger impact in your life. Now he could see where Clara was coming from, whenever she tried to gloss over any mention of Danny's name, he could tell she was really missing him - thinking more about Clara's love life, therefore happened to spark off a few beloved memories for him too, of the last moments his younger self, shared with River. How these painful memories had stung him deeply and his hearts had sunk into his stomach.

No wonder, Clara had enjoyed hearing most of the stories he had told her, about his many adventures with River and her mother and father; enough to convince her while she laid dying, he shouldn't stay alone forever, grieving for her and blaming himself for what happened to her. He needed to look for his wife, whether he liked it or not.

 _"I know you want to leave the past behind and I completely understand. I've been there myself, with River and yet there isn't a moment, where I don't stop to wonder what she might have thought, when I make a mistake of putting my foot wrong in a dangerous situation."  
_

 _"Did you love her, River?" Clara asked him, she really hoped he would confirm this._

 _"I didn't need to tell her. She was too clever enough to see it my eyes. Oh, that woman, as frustrating and trying as she was, she was always capable of having such a wonderful impact on you. Her beauty and elegance would light up the room, every time she stood in it. The only man she ever had eyes - was for me. It was just a shame, we kept getting our timelines wrong, when we met up with each other. She wouldn't talk to me for three weeks because I hadn't turn up for our date in Rome in the 31st Century. She believed it to be three weeks, in my timeline it was actually two years. When I tried to explain, she slapped me. Three weeks later, we reconciled; and then we took a trip to see the stars of Armaska"  
_

 _"So you loved her then."  
_

 _The Doctor never did fully tell Clara, what she was expected to hear him say.  
_

He got so sidetracked in thought about this previous heartwarming conversation, he hadn't acknowledged River sneaking up behind him and wrapping her arms around him. There was no need for him to glance back over his shoulder to see his wife, he could tell she was already there, simply by the scent of her perfume.

"You left me in bed alone. I hope you realize you're not properly dressed for the console room." She was quick to highlight the fact, he was minus his burgundy jacket and his Doc Marten boots.

"Actually, I should say the same about you too River. " He pretended to look outraged by her choice of appearance. However he couldn't stick to tricking her for long, as his face eventually broke into a fresh-faced wide grin; once he'd sensed her face blushing because she was beginning to realize - he knew her far too well enough. Thank goodness, her husband's new face, was clever enough to remember how she preferred to dress in the TARDIS.

"You've still retained your memory in the correct order. Very impressive."

"Are you implying I'm a robot, River?"

"Says the man, who thought a room full of cinema-goers were really Zygons in disguise, when in fact, it turned out it turned out to be the staff at the cinema instead."

"Well, after watching Ghostbusters 25 times and having a previous dealings with Zygons, it's bound to make me feel curious to investigate suspicious circumstances at one or two cinemas."

"You really were trying to impress me, that day weren't you? You, your bowtie and your fez and that funny dancing you did, to distract two of the Zygons." She laughed upon her recollection of this particular comical scenario.

"You sent me a distress signal, claiming you needed my help because you had your sonic blaster removed by one of the Zygons. I was doing what every husband's required to do, coming to the rescue of his wife, no matter how serious the situation is." The Doctor became aware of her laughing behind his back, needless to say, he wasn't very impressed. Still, knowing her, as sure; as he was, she was a woman who loved being entertained and it sounded as though, she had adored his moment of madness dancing.

He decided to turn round and do decent thing of facing his wife face to face. Well, he believed it was rude to be still talking to her, with his back turned to her. When he followed through on doing this, he was met by her fingers touching his cheek - the feel of her hand was warm on his face. Both his cheeks flushed with the intimate touch. His eye bore into hers, with such passion and fierceness, it was enough to make her weak at the knees.

"I can never stay mad at you for long my love, even if you end up having one of your Guitar Hero moments." She gave a slight nod in the direction, of where he had left his guitar on display. They both looked at it together, left resting against the wall.

"Why, would you like me to play you a song?"

"Play away, Guitar man."

The Doctor wasted no time in retrieving his guitar and putting the guitar's strap over his head and draping it over his left shoulder. River excitedly took a seat and awaited to hear his guitar-playing serenade/performance for her. She hoped, he wasn't planning on playing an acoustic version of Mrs Robinson. She asked herself, he wouldn't be too predictable would he?

The man she hadn't seen in over a couple of hundred years, soon bedazzled and electrified her with a performance of epic portions. He played guitar riffs of She Sells Sanctuary and Two Hearts Beat as One by U2. She didn't recognize the lyrics of the songs, The Doctor simply claimed acceptance for the songwriting for these songs. He didn't go into making a big deal about it, even if River kept on trying to persuade him, to sing along to and teach her the lyrics.

"Maybe another time." He tried and failed, to duck and dive out of his wife's suggestion.

"You didn't really write them, did you, Sweetie?" She asked him. There was no hint or clue as to whether she was annoyed with him. So he could easily breath a sigh of relief.

"No." He admitted with the simplest and straight forwardness of answers.

"It doesn't bother me, if you didn't." She stroked a hand over his chest and eyed up the two missing buttons on his shirt. "Anyway, I've just thought of somewhere I'd like you to take me too."

"Oh, really? Where."

She whispered the answer to him. He was surprised by her reasoning for this and without further ado, he closely monitored the computer screen before keying in the co-ordinates and submitted them.

"Only you could pick somewhere as unusual and strange as that one." He chuckled out loud, making his Scottish accent more enjoyable to listen to as ever.

 **End of Chapter**

 **All Reviews are Welcome**

* * *

 **What is River up to? and can The Doctor maintain his happiness with her. 12 meets a familiar face and is taught a few lessons on life after death.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the reviews so far, for my Doctor Who story. I much appreciate them. I got story ideas to last two more chapters. Hope you enjoy reading Chapter 4.  
**

* * *

 **Doctor Who: Just You Watch Him Run**

 **Chapter 4**

"River, I don't remember giving you the title of Queen of the TARDIS. Unless I'm supposed to somewhere, further down my timeline." The Doctor wasn't fooled at all by, whatever his wife's claims were, regarding one of her nicknames for her, whenever she was on board the TARDIS.

Even for him, some parts of his relationship with his wife were still not as straightforward as he thought they appeared to be. She was younger, much younger than last time and he was much older than last time, however husband and wife were still capable of sharing a mutual love for each other.

"Spoilers, Sweetie." She places a finger over her lips.

"Just for the record, River. I may be older, well much older than the last time you seen me but let this be a warning to you, I enjoy having plenty of tricks up my sleeve, when it comes to finding out _Spoilers_ " He wanted to get a few facts straight before, she attempted to make mischief once more.

While he was talking to her, he had clearly failed to notice the TARDIS has unexpectedly grounded to a sudden halt and it was up to River, to update him on this important matter.

"I don't want to alarm you but we've stopped. Shields are stable, as far as I can see." The mood changes from general flirting to action stations within a matter of seconds. River acts calmly as, she re-examines the console, the computer screen, it's buttons, the levers and everything else.

"It, could it be possible, we've already landed, 495 years later into the future. Oh, you'll love Space Rollerblading, once you get the hang of it, my love." She came to an easy conclusion, this might obviously be the actual case.

"Space Rollerblading? Ha, I can barely stand up straight on a hoverboard." He wasn't too keen on the thought of constantly falling over, while trying to keep his balance on roller-blades. He depicts his reason for not wanting to take part in this activity, by pointing two fingers of his right hand and his two fingers of his left hand, down at his feet.

"I didn't say we were going to, Sweetie. Did you know, circus acts can do performances in mid air? The ground takes them move up and take you with them. You can watch the usual circus tricks being performed in the air for 20 minutes."

"No, I didn't know this. It's been too long since I last visited the Circus. I don't see why we can't attend one Circus performance together." She awards him, by overwhelmingly hugging him again. River really couldn't get enough of this hugging business between them - which hardly surprised her husband, who had known how lively and feisty she can be.

"Oh, I knew you were bound to come round eventually. It was just a matter of time."

"River, stop it."

"Stop what?"

The Doctor's wonderful half-alien/half-human mind, suddenly had it's lightbulb moment, as he wandered around the console, towards her. "You're doing that thing again, with your eyes and your lips and quite frankly it's very, very wrong, River."

River places her hand flatly across her left hip, while her eyes were keenly examining his body language. Soon enough she gathers, he was proving very difficult for her to read. Clearly traveling for so long and having not stopped running, had left a thought-provoking and stirring effect upon him. Still thoroughly being loved and respected by those closest to him within the last hundred, if not a thousand years, wasn't such a problem for him whatsoever.

He looks as if, he had been eternally longing for real affection for too long. Clara had no doubt, effectively helped to reawaken and soften his deepest and darkest of feelings.

"I'm not doing anything. It's just as figure of expression, no naughty intentions meant within it." River squeezes his hand to reassure him. The two of them both manage to pick the same moment, to glance down to see her thumb stroking his knuckles. He began to ease and perhaps relish the feel of her soft, smooth hand holding onto his hand.

"Now... ahem... where were we?" The wonderful look in his eyes was rather pleasant and charming to witness. Especially the way, his body language was quickly able to adapt to, his wife's hand upon his hand and whenever she used her hand to caress the warmth of his cheek with. Clearly seeing him looking ever so distracted and adoring the touch of her hand, left her trying to fight back a few tears from within her eyes.

"I believe, we were about to investigate what lies on the other side of the TARDIS doors. Hopefully we are, where we are. I've never been wrong on calculations before." River oozes enough confidence, when it came to Science and Mathematics combined. She was sure, he knew what marvelous and ingenious tactics, she was capable of having up her sleeve.

"You do realize, this is your fault for fluttering those eyelashes of yours at me. A Time Lord's weakness almost tends to lead him or her ashtray but at the end of the day, we can one step ahead of the pack." The Doctor found an excusable way to tell River, a few home truths. They were bickering like a proper married couple again and boy he did relish this familiar scenario between the two of them.

"Says the man, who ran for the Welsh hills, when you incurred the wrath of Strax's Sontaran friends in the late 17th Century, after a game of Snap!" She brought to mind, one mistake he made once, after he had taken River on her first trip to Victorian London. He had left her high and dry for two days, after fleeing from Strax's furious friends.

"What was I suppose to do, volunteer myself for a Sontaran revenge ritual. Besides I've heard rumours, they're very entertaining and harmless nowadays or back in Victorian London."

"It's a wonder, how on earth Strax's friends Brax and Dax haven't got themselves arrested, for the crimes of hosting these rituals of theirs." She said, with an obvious air of frustration. Watching his wife venting her dismay and disapproval was, amusing to see.

"Sontarans will be Sontarans, same as Zygones will be Zygones. They both never change; even if they mutually claim they have. Strax's different, he has human-like feelings and that's what I mainly like about him." He details what he found the most intriguing about his remarkably brave yet lacking of tact, Sontaran friend.

"oh dear, It's finally happening." River's delight is clearer to see, even from as far away as Mars.

"What is?" The Doctor asks her, making it apparent, he was likely around a minute or two behind her, on this realization.

"You're trying to strike up a Bromance with Strax, without even realizing you and him being in the same room, let alone the same period of time."

She just about succeeded, in being able to stick to her stance of not making fun at his expense. Without much fuss or questionable doubts, The Doctor was now offering his hand, for her to grab onto, as they left the TARDIS together.

"Humans and their interpretation of Male friendships, as ridiculous as it sounds - It does make for good tv, The Only Way is Essex."

River let go of his hand immediately and decides to quiz on his latest opinion . "Please don't tell me, you actually watch that god awful tv show?"

"Of course not. Don't be silly." The Doctor instantly shrugs off her question in typical fashion, which didn't surprise her one little bit. She didn't see the point in them messing around and so, she laced her fingers with his, more securely this time. They caught each other's gaze, right on cue. River's was so overwhelming, which causes The Doctor's marvelous yet intense eyebrows to start twitching in anticipation.

"Are you ready, River?" Why was he asking her, he knows the answer like the back of his hand.

"Oh you know me, Sweetie. I've been ready and waiting for too long." Without guessing, the two of them were both thinking along the same line; She wonders why on earth, she was telling her husband something, he probably already knows.

"I thought you'd say that. Let's go." He locked eyes with her briefly before lifting her left hand up to his lips and placing a butterfly-soft kiss across her fingertips. They trade individual affectionate looks between each other before they left the TARDIS together hand-in-hand. He was certainly behaving with loyalty and poise, as he walks alongside her. He felt he could finally relax better in her company.

 **xxxx**

River and The Doctor were now sitting on by a countryside lake in Oxford 2075, it was this year, as far as they know, after they'd both read the reading of the yea,r on the computer monitor. Hologram boats and hologram magnetic projections were a favorable tradition of a future. This new version of Earth didn't seem far different from the technology and ways of living in the present day version of Earth.

"She tricked us. I'm telling you River, The TARDIS tricked us." Believing the Old Girl was misbehaving again, he raised his suspicions about why she had possibly transported them through the Earth's timeline instead of through the Cosmic Calendar.

"Well not exactly." River decides to own up with a confession, she was regretting going behind his back on this co-ordinated journey. She felt certain, he would respond by being tremendously angry with her.

"River, what do you mean by that?" His two hearts slowly sank, with the fear of betrayal. Ashildr had betrayed him, he hoped to God, River hadn't done the same.

"I brought you here, in the hope you can confront the last of your demons. I know you told me, you're coping with the thought of losing friends. However you still have that look of _I'm not giving up. Remember you did the same thing, when you tried to search for my mother and father,_ only your search was to no avail. I should have stopped you back then but now I'm righting the wrongs by helping to show you, breaking the rules should always remain in your vocabulary."

He agreed with her, without any hint of hesitation. He couldn't find any reason to feel angry with her. After all, she had only been thinking of doing things in his best interests. The Time Lord, looked to his right hand side and thoughtfully watched her.

"History keeps repeating itself for me, River. It doesn't like me and I don't like it. A twist of fate is a guilt-trip for those who've seen it happen far too often. I just can't undo, what happens each and every time but I can always find a sensible way around seeing Clara and Donna one last time. I still think about Donna and how her biggest hobby of all was, to put me in my place. She's married and she's a mother. In fact, she owns her customer service business in Canary Wharf. I miss her like I miss Clara. I'm probably boring you, aren't I. Mentioning her name, makes me wish I hadn't overlooked the foreshadowing staring me right in the face."

The Doctor felt the need to unlock the real emotion behind his loneliness, hoping this cause of action might do him, the world of good.

For the second time, he'd brought up another of his weaknesses. "Clearly you need to remember the importance of being a Time Lord. You cannot keep punishing yourself forever because you'll be playing your vulnerability into the hands of one of your many enemies and trust me the consequences will be far worse for you than ever. You should know this by now anyway."

They had been talking for so long on the bench, so much so they'd forgotten where they were and lost track of their surrounding and also had failed to detect Oswin Oswald, standing right behind them with a 10 year old boy.

"You're a Time what?" Oswin looked blatantly baffled by what she had overheard these two strangers speaking about very loudly and especially in front of her young nephew.

"Clar..." He recognized the voice in a matter of seconds. He glanced over his shoulder to see if it really was her. Once he did, he started to doubt it was and assumed it might be Oswin Oswald, an earlier version of her before she joined the crew of the Starliner "Alaska" as a Junior Entertainment Manager.

River too, was taken back, by the surprise appearance of this young brunette, who matched the description - her husband had used to describe his deceased friend. She could see her husband struggling to take his eyes off, this woman standing in front of him.

"Why are you both looking at me like that?" She curiously asked, not liking the odd looks, they were giving her.

River "It's nothing. Come on Jim, we've got get back home." River tried to talk him into leaving straight away. He wasn't budging, so she resorted to squeezing his bicep.

"River you're squeezing my bicep too tightly, ow!" He shot River a _What are you thinking?_ look and attempted to fend off any likely further attempts by her, to squeeze his other arm.

"I'll leave you both alone." Oswin clearly felt spooked by the couple's odd behavior around her and so quickly left with her nephew Alex.

"No...No...don't leave, please don't." He desperately called to her but she never thought to look back at him.

"That wasn't Clara was it?" Body language was a common factor with River Song and she was becoming aware of his

"No, it's another version of her. She's got the same surname as Clara, Oswin Oswald but what's she doing in Oxford. I've met her before, well slightly later into her timeline. She was the only survivor of her crew on the Alaska, after it crashed on the Asylum. She jumped into my previous self's timeline, just so she can restore. If that's not the makings of a dedicated and true friend, than I don't know what is." Maybe chasing after Oswin for answers which weren't there, wasn't the right thing to do. To her, he was simply just a stranger with a bonkers mind.

River gently rested her head on his shoulder. They'd traveled everywhere together and yet, one bit of sudden curiosity, succeeded in getting the upper hand over her - How had their conversation been fully overheard so well, especially by Oswin and why had this young woman taken a rather peculiar interest, in walking up behind them, in the first place.

"If Oswin's here in Oxford. Well, there's a chance, she hasn't considered the choice of signing herself up for the Alaska expedition yet."

"I can't be the person, who becomes responsible for her eventual choice - at whatever point this happens in the early part of her young life. There are rules, River. Rules that I can't be breaking again, no matter how badly I want to break them."

"You and your rules. You're forgotten something, Sweetie. She doesn't even know your name or mine. You can still go to her." Having quietly taken things into consideration, by weighing up the dos and don'ts, The Doctor feels he couldn't press on with doing the conventional thing, like he normally prefers to do - getting himself out of scrapes at the last minute, working the wonders of his mind directly via meditation nowadays, which enables him to devise a suitable solution.

"No, I've got a better suggestion in mind." Still The Time Lord had a secret liking for skirting around troubles - assuming he was going to win at the end of the day, of course.

She removes her head up off his shoulder and glances up at him. She pleasantly smiled, once she recognizes one of his recurring mannerisms. "I know that look and I can't say I'm not surprised by it."

Forest Avenue - Camden, London  


After her trip to Oxford for the weekend, Oswin Oswald was returning home. She lives alone. She works part time as a waitress in a diner. She has no career ambitions as of yet. Her two best friends regularly travel to wintery climates throughout the world. She longs to join them on one of their travels but never gets the chance of asking her friends.

She steps into her house, blissfully unaware her movements are under surveillance and what potential trouble is lying in store for her, courtesy of two male charity workers who weren't appearing to be very humanely not human themselves, as they approach Oswin's home.

River and The Doctor were able to track where Oswin Oswald lived, thanks to another of his _really, really cool_ gadgets, aptly named _"The Forecaster"_. The Doctor furrowed his brows, once he acknowledges the unwanted attention he's getting from three nosy school kids on the other side of the road.

"Okay, I hold my hands up. I was completely wrong and you were right. I concur because I can see how you're the genius when it comes to actually getting us both somewhere and out of trouble." She was talking as if, she had the sneaky intention of putting a spin on what she had just told him.

"Why, thank you. I suppose this where you're about to reverse what you've just told me, aren't you? - All in the name of Reverse Psychology."

"How did you guess?... Oh my god...Look over there." They'd become too occupied within their conversation, to not see these two charity workers, who were frightening Oswin on her front doorstep. When they did take heed of what was happening, The Doctor suddenly plays the action hero, as he sprints into action, much to his wife's clear exasperation.

The Doctor ran as fast as he could, chasing after the two men who he believes to be two trouble-making Zygons in disguise. Meanwhile River crosses the road and walks up to the front of Oswin's home.

"You again? Where's your crazy husband? Have you both been following me because if you have, I swear "I'll phone the Police on the two of you." Oswin refuses to accept help from

"No, we haven't. We just fancied a week long break in Oxford and London. Please don't think of him as a strange man. He's not as bad as you believe he is. He's just "

"Oi, come here you bloody blobby bastards..." The Doctor couldn't keep up with them and so he resorts to yelling with such anger, which did him no favors, as an elderly woman decided to wallop him with her handbag. He couldn't really fight his corner.

River can't help but sympathize with her. What she's about to ask. She doesn't know whether The Doctor will feel glad or monumentally disappointed with her, for meddling in Oswin's life. "My husband knew a woman named Clara, you don't happen to be any relation to her, are you by any chance? "

"Clara? My grandmother was called Clara. Died before I celebrated my 5th birthday." She explained, with the deepest of sadness and regret.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. You should probably read this then." River hands her an envelope, containing a handwritten letter from The Doctor. "Sorry, I can't stay. I have go and find the other half, see where he's wandered off too." River let herself out of Oswin's house. She gave her a surprising hug on the front doorstep before she properly left.

She got to end of the curved pavement in the street and placed both her hands on her hips. "- Honestly that man, he certainly relishes any opportunity of doing a disappearing act. Where the bloody hell is he, for gods sake?- " She rolls her eyes and taps her left foot impatiently. Clearly she wasn't willing to play the waiting game with him and so she takes the decision to head back to the TARDIS, to see whether he was waiting for her outside or inside his machine. _  
_

A certain time later, she was strolling by park swings and the sight of a tall and skinny looking man with a burgundy jacket stumbling back and forth, instantly caught her attention. He sees her too, after he glances over his shoulder and sees her standing alongside on the monkey bars.

"Ah you're probably seeking an explanation I got ganged up on by two female pensioners just because they couldn't accept my inappropriate language."

River suddenly snorts with laughter. The sound of her alluring laughter soon warms the depth of his hearts up, even though he's still feeling understandably embarrassed about what happened with the two pensioners.

"I did warn you about your language and look where it gets you, a straight red card from elderly residents in that street. Oh, you're such a badly behaved and man. Next time, I will do the running and show you how to catch Slitheen or Zygons dressed in human form." She momentarily resorts to throwing playful remarks at him before composing herself.

The Doctor and River strolled over towards the swings and seated themselves on the swinging seats. "So did you give Oswin my letter?"

"Yes. She was reluctant at first. I got her to open up more to me and it turns out Clara is...was her grandmother." River really wasn't sure, on how she was going to explain part of the conversation, she had shared with Oswin. It didn't take her long, to come up with a better plan. - Not saying nothing at all, for the time being.

"That can't be possible." The Doctor's mouth falls open with shock. He knows he's been here before, in his younger life with Rose Tyler and remembers the constant heartbreak he went through afterwards, after losing her.

"It is when you find yourself in an alternative universe, where Clara never died and Oswin actually exists. Although when I say this here, it means she won't exist in the real universe." Seeing as River had chosen to research Alternative timelines along with her Archaeology studies. She had uncovered secrets and tricks of getting out of them, without causing damage to the fabric of time - in a way, it was still frowned upon as cheating the depths of time but without any lasting harm.

"So myself, your mother and your father originally entered an Alternative version of the Dalek Asylum without even knowing it but still we got out of unscathed thanks to Oswin." The Doctor recalls the moment, where his younger body had felt tremendous gratitude and also the deepest of sorrow, upon wondering how she had lost her life to a Dalek.

"She's a heroine but she doesn't quite know it yet." River tells herself.

He manages to compose himself better and decides he would like to remember Oswin Oswald as a brave, courageous and none quitter when it came to not giving up on your friend, like her grandmother did with him. "I don't want to even dwell on, how the Daleks manage to eventually inflict a painful death on her in the Asylum, I just would like to remember her as the heroine she soon becomes later in life, the woman who saves my life and who I will always think of as The Impossible Girl."

"Nicely put, my love." River expresses how proud she is of him. They embrace. She hugs him close to her and he doesn't

Oswin unfolds the letter, handwritten especially for her, courtesy of The Doctor.

 _Dear Oswin_

 _I'm not very good when it comes to writing letters but I hope with me writing this one to you, will help you to understand, what it is I have to say. I never got to tell you, how your grandmother was such an exceptionally fearless young woman, when I first met her. I see your potential too, Oswin. One day, you can follow in your grandmother's footsteps and achieve the greatest of ambitions, one human can achieve in a lifetime. I'm not saying you should become Prime Minister of Great Britain or President of the World(That title is taken I'm afraid...by me.) What I'm trying to say is, your grandmother loved traveling, enough to broaden her experiences of life and different moments of time. I think you should always be proud of her and you should take up the things she loved too. We may meet again soon one day, sooner than you think perhaps. All I can say is, stay safe and keep running you clever girl._

 _Best Wishes_

 _Doctor John Disco"  
_

 **End of Chapter  
**

 **All Reviews are Welcome**


	5. Chapter 5

**Doctor Who: Just You Watch Him Run**

 **Chapter 5  
**

River's divine and heavenly figure, was all proving too much for The Doctor to take his eyes off, while he was meant to be weighing up his options. Seeing as they were stood on either side of the console, she soon caught him red-handed, acknowledging how his beautiful big blue eyes were marveling at her from his side of it. She doesn't know whether she should hug him or whether to choose the right thing to tell him. One thing she did consider to be truthful and accurate, was how he was in need of plenty of reassurance, to help him to resume his time-traveling once again.

"So what are your plans now, my love? Are you just going to keep running or are you intending to stop for a while? " She couldn't bare to see him traveling alone just yet, not after what he's been through, since losing Clara. Although it wasn't her given consent, to have a say in what her husband should do next. She was hoping, he would stay with her at Luna, for the time being.

She walked round the console and walked towards her wonderful husband. The two of them found themselves a metre apart. The Doctor could feel the warmth of her blushed cheeks. He was clever enough to sense certain things from so far away.

"Goodness...uhm...I haven't given this much thought yet. A man as old as myself, I know it would be entirely wrong of me to say - I want to dash off to TARDIS and leave you in a hurry, River - No I think I'd rather rest first before. Well my actions of late, haven't boded well for me and as of now, I'd rather keep myself out of potential trouble." The Doctor felt trouble and pain stalks him far too greatly and makes his skin crawl.

"You're still young in my eyes, you'll always forever will be." She caress his cheek so softly, she's suddenly sure she can sense his hearts pounding and his pulse throbbing in his left wrist. Clearly he was quickly adapting to the magnificent feel of her hand upon his cheek.

"Oh River, you have more of an alluring effect on me, than you will ever know. You do realize this why I love you so much." The awareness of the words, which had surprisingly slipped out from his mouth, hadn't quite registered with him yet.

River started to cry tears of joy but manages to restrain herself from hugging him as soon as possible. She wants to check first to see, why he had admitted his love for her, so unexpectedly. "What's spurred this declaration of yours, on all of a sudden?"

"Spurred my declaration on?" He was still so slow on the uptake and River found this to be incredibly frustrating, to deal with.

"Must you keep up this pretense. You make think it's clever but it's not. Trust me." She wanted to scream or tap both of her feet as if she was performing a Flamenco dance alone.

"Oh I do trust you. Sorry, I just needed to test your patience and your composure. So I could be 100% sure, how much you really love and care about me. You see, your words may not be able to tell the whole story River, but your tears express your love far more clearly for me, than you realize - well it's all in the eyes, isn't it, you know when you know someone loves you, for sure." The Doctor spoke a flawless truth and didn't regret any word of it whatsoever, seeing as it came from both of his two hearts.

"So I take this, as you meaning to say - you want to stay with me for now, at least until you want to start seeking adventures again?"

Yet again, she shivers once she finds herself caught under his penetrating gaze. She swears her husband is doing this intentionally because he wants to make go her weak at the knees, knowing this was one of her weaknesses.

"Oh absolutely. I wouldn't want to find myself anywhere else. I think we need each other more than ever and plus I need to keep an eye on those fellow students of yours, who keep flirting with you."

"Just how long, were you watching me when you turned up at the University?" She couldn't believe the cheek of him - as one would think a husband would come to his wife's rescue and scare off some wannabe Romeo, with his eyebrows.

He steps into her personal space. His head ending up only inches away from hers. She was surprised to feel his body heat radiating from beneath his burgundy jacket and waistcoat of his. "Oh now that would be telling. Like you keep teasing me, River - Spoilers."

"You're just asking for a slap or another kiss. Well you've got as much time as you want to make up for this." The couple were more in love with each other than ever and were still persistently flirting without even fully acknowledging it.

The Doctor pulls away from her momentarily and uses his hand to push the lever down, on the console. "Oh you know me, I like to be an observant first. Well, I did watch The Rings of Fire burning on Barcelona once."

"You mean you attended the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992?" She thought he was trying to hide the fact, he had blagged his way into getting himself a VIP at the Olympics, just to see the rings being lit.

His eyes flicker down at the floor for a moment before returning their focus on his wife. She really didn't know of Barcelona at all. Perhaps now was a good time to give her a brief description of this wonderful planet. "Um, no it's a real planet. It's as big as India and Europe combined and quite stunning too. Oh, you'd love it on this planet, River. There's acrobatic Human Cats, who perform as a quartet known as Cattasia. So, how about we take a trip to Barcelona together? what do you reckon?"

"Personally, I'd rather see Daleks being used as juggling balls instead. Besides, I can't ignore the fact that you already won me, as soon as you said - Human Cats." She watches him, pulling the _Typical of you to go all River on me_ look. She keeps telling herself - _he's doing everything he can,_ _for a slap from me. No chance of this happening.  
_

"Barcelona it is then." The Doctor knowingly smirks.

"You know, I've never you smile like that before." River points out, not knowing her husband had heard this comment being mentioned to him before.

"Fabulous isn't it?" His teeth were as whiter than the last time River had remembered them to be.

The TARDIS signals, they were close to arriving back at Luna within a few minutes. "Alternative Universe, they're so fascinating aren't they?" River was becoming more fascinated, by the wonders of timelines and realities.

"I've had problems with them before. Well younger me, lost a few important people. So I find it strange, how I can just travel in-between the real and the alternative universe. It's extraordinary. It's mind-blowing. I want to shake it up like a shaken Martini." The Doctor too, was perplexed by the newest mysteries which laid beyond on the other side.

"So you're a James Bond fan?" Their conversation kept getting better and better, every-time he slipped in a movie reference or something different about his likes and dislikes.

"Classic Bond fan, as a matter of fact." He certainly felt comfortable enough, to open his hearts to her more than ever. It was so obvious to see anyway, considering how the affection and bond between husband and wife, was beginning to reach new levels.

"Why would you like to see me roleplaying James Bond one day?" They were flirting just like old times again, well maybe not as straightforwardly, as she could tell from her point of view, but it proved to be such an absolute relief, they were enjoying each other's company.

"As tempting as this sounds - I'd prefer to see you being your frustrating yet enigmatic self, Sweetie." She trails her fingers over his squared shoulder. He quietly watched her walking around him - at least twice. Just what game was she playing with him? Was she making efforts to persuade him to stay longer or was she genuinely longing for him, having been missing from his life for so long.

"I thought you'd say that." The Doctor smiles, before running his hand across her cheek and resting it on her right cheekbone, as his magnificent eyes peered down into hers.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Enjoying what?"

"Holding back from kissing me."

"This me, has already kissed you more times than I can count to 100 in Gallifreyan. River, are you trying to say you can't get enough of my kisses?" He was speaking like he was still an inexperienced individual, when it came to worshiping the grounds the love of your life walked on. Yes, he claimed he loved but suddenly he seemed like he had forgotten everything he had said after 15 minutes. She speculated about whether she should, perhaps once in a while, teach him to remember his love for her - even through the darkest of times, he would likely have to face in the later part of his timeline.

He can see her longing, for the touch of his lips upon her skin. Feeling he's left her waiting far too long, he decides to silence her with the kiss she's been expecting from him. His eyes dart between her eyes and lips before he remembers he's meant to kiss her. He breathed her familiar scent, the curls of her hair tickled his left cheek.

"I have absolutely no idea, what on earth you're talking about." She softens towards him but still manages to hold onto her flirty and feisty side.

"Well, we'll see about that, won't we." He smirks and soon he kisses her, with such strength and sureness of a man who knew exactly what he was doing. His kisses were full of confidence, gentle and beautiful. She was left to wonder whether he had known what he was doing all along - annoy her as much as possible, enough to make her roll her eyes at him.

She melts in his arms, no surprises there. It soon feels rather comforting for him to acknowledge this - feeling alone was never going to be an option for him, especially with River still being a huge part of his life or of his next life of his future self.

She runs her hands through his soft and fuzzy silver hair and he responds to her latest action, by kissing her more expressively. He walks her backwards, away from the console and next towards the TARDIS door. She's too lost, to know what's happening around her and because the touch of his lips were making her mind and hearts race, in a way they hadn't done before. Who could blame her? this was the man, who she had became an integral part of her life, from the very moment she went from Melody Pond to River Song. The moment she had thought she had killed him on Lake Silencio and it had turned out to be a Teselecta of him instead. Although she wasn't aware from her timeline, of her eventual fate. She felt deep down, time might perhaps not play in their favour in the future.

Her knees almost buckled from beneath, so she held onto him as much as she was possibly could. He can feel her hearts beating quicker than normal. He's pretty sure with certainty, he had left a breathtaking effect upon her, what with her clearly already succumbing to his older and effective charms. Minutes later, they pull away for breath, a couple of minutes later. His mouth was heavily smudged with her lipstick, she wasn't willing to point this out to him just yet. After what felt like forever for them, gazing into each other's eyes, like true lovebirds. The two of them eventually stepped outside the TARDIS, once it had finally returned to the University's campus.

"So how come you've never invited me to stay with you here before?" He knew he would have liked bringing Clara to the University, to meet River properly

"You were always welcome to stay anytime. You were always too busy saving the world. Our timelines haven't yet caught up with each other's, have they?"

"Hang on just a minute, River. I wasn't avoiding you because the crossings of our timelines have been...well let's face it, bloody rubbish. There was never the right moment for me, to come here. I nearly drove myself towards the brink of madness and then fearfulness because this version of myself has gone through since I regenerated. Stuff you wouldn't believe River."

"No point in telling me this, my love. I've seen you at your very worst and emotional of times but you got yourself through them." She had witnessed his many trials and tribulations and had helped him through them later in his timeline.

"And how did I do that?" He asks her, knowing she wouldn't dare give him an answer.

" - Spoilers." She smiles, keeping to what she likes to do best; keeping tight-lipped.

"Now why doesn't this surprise me. Sticking to what you're good at - behaving like a Professor of Spoilers." The Doctor beams with pure joy and of course, he wasn't afraid to make this known out loud.

They link arms. as they took a stroll through the grounds of the University's campus together. Her hair looks gleaming beneath the midday sun.

He wasn't entirely sure of what he should do on the Campus - pose as a professor or as a student or as a caretaker.

"Is the sun always so strong here? Honestly it almost seems as if, everyone here is living within an oven." The weather was far too exasperating to say the least.

"Your opinions never cease to amaze me." It felt all rather new and unpredictable for her, not knowing what her grumpy husband might say next.

"Well, we've got so much time to catch up. We might as well start now before people in the classes here, reveal their pudding brains, as if by magic." He didn't care as much, if anyone overheard him talking rudely about River's fellow students at Luna.

"Pudding Brains? Wish I'd have thought of that one myself." She laughs. He gazes at her, pursuing his lips. He can't recall her laughing so much ever since they first got married. She's blossoming like a gloriously stunning flower and he's silently thanking his lucky stars for them, finally finding each other at last.

"Are you talking to yourself, Sweetie?" She asks him.

"Okay, I'm maybe strange but I'm not strange enough to enjoy a good conversation with myself, River." He was clearly lying, as she had realized, his lip twitching was a bit of a weakness of his.

Within the space of five minutes, the two of them were outside one of the buildings. "Please don't tell me, you haven't deliberately left the TARDIS in plain sight again?" She hopes he hasn't done anything like this on purpose, just to provoke a reaction. Well, from what she had detected from him; His new persona certainly had all the right ingredients, to likely whip up a storm of controversy, at the drop of a hat.

"Relax, no one's bound to find it. I put it in HADS." He taps the side of his nose, as if to suggest there's a smart enough reason behind this.

"Ah smart. Perhaps too smart, Sweetie." She bursts out giggling while deep in thought but she doesn't go into details, as to why she's in such a joyful and happy mood all of a sudden. He assumes his wife was hypnotically falling under the spell of his fine-looking eyebrows.

"You're the one who's behaving like she's proper smarter one. What a predictable, yet intriguing way to pass the time away, in your book." His gruff voice soon sent instant shivers down her back. She seems so happy when she hears his Scottish accent getting stronger, once he starts muttering to himself.

She was even happier and perhaps less embarrassed "Let's get you inside before, your enemy list stacks up to a ridiculous number of people." She tugs on his hand and in a surprising move, she ushers him into one of the nearby study rooms.

"River, now isn't the time to play hide and seek!" The Doctor's cry of protest was duly ignored by his wife.

"That's such a girly thing of you to say. Almost makes me convinced, you were once a girl in one of your previous regenerations." She doesn't mean to annoy him to a great extent, even if she's got that old familiar look on her face - the _Relax, I've got a way of getting you in the University, without raising an eye of suspicion."  
_ She presents him with a mop and bucket, his left brow rises questioningly.

"How did you know?" He asks her, while attempting to not express his genuine annoyance at his wife for assuming this, unless she had, had the misfortune of meeting Missy, somewhere in her timeline. Afterall it felt like such a _Missy thing,_ for her to say.

"Well, I guess I have my ways of knowing and I have the last quarter of the remainder of my Regeneration energy to thank for it." She smiles. She's loving every moment of making him look so curious by whatever teasing comment she mentions.

"I better get started then." He intends to start right away. Go deep undercover before anyone began to ask questions.

"I'd rather you didn't, just yet. That's Mr Sweetman's mop bucket and his 15 minute break is almost about to end. I think we should head back to my study room and then perhaps tomorrow, you can apply for his job, seeing as today is his last day." She reveals, just as the elderly man walks through a second door connected to the room, The Doctor had found himself in.

"Human or Alien?" He wrinkles his nose, pursues his lips again and his eyes gaze with interest and peculiarity at her.

"Human of course. Although Mrs Sweetman is actually a Silurian." River chooses to tell him, as the second door's handle turns to open. She grasps hold of his hand and they both hurry out of the very large room.

"Interesting. She isn't a relation of Madam Vastra by any chance, is she?" He's rather surprised to learn this.

"Probably not." She disagrees with him.

He's used to running from dangerous and scary enemies like the Daleks and the Cybermen but perhaps not on this caliber, seeing as he's being practically lead along a never-ending corridor.

"Just like old times. You and me running as fast as we can together, River." He nicely reminds her.

"I never get bored of them."

"Neither do I."

They laugh before disappearing out of the building together and soon shortly return the actual study room, she preferred to do her studies in.

 **End of Chapter**

 **All Reviews are Welcome**


End file.
